Grain grinder gate valve



March 23, 1943. H. M. JOHNSTON `2,314,706

GRAIN GRINDER GATE VALVE Filed Feb. 6, 1941 -2 Sheets-Sheet l IN VEN TOR. HOMQDMJo/f/rsro/Y BY frog/ye: y

March 23, 1943. H. M. JOHNSTON GRAIN GRINDER GATE VALVE 2 Sheets-'Sheei'I 2 Filed Feb. 6, 1941 INVENTOR. HonAao/YJoH/xsro/Y ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 23, 1943 GRAIN GRINDER GATE VALVE Howard M. Johnston, Toronto,` Ontario, Canada, assignor to` Massey-Harris Company Ltd., Toronto, Ontario, Canada, a, limited company of Canada YApplication February 6, 1941, Serial No. 377,622

1 Claim.

My invention relates to grain grinders and means for feeding the grain and regulating its ow into the grinding plates.

An object of the present invention is to provide simple means for definitely regulating the flow of grain through the grinder which Will not clog in any position of adjustment.

' In grain grinders of the class, a non clog gate valve is not practical unless some agitating means is provided which Will prevent the grain from bridging the adjusted feed opening. Such means are, usually noisyand expensive.

I provide a gate valve which practically surrounds a reduced in diameter portion of the spiral feeding mechanism so a regulated or restricted Vopening is formed therearound thus to continuously agitate the grain as it approaches and passes through the opening.

My invention insures a uniform flow of grain through the mill thus to insure a uniformly ground product.

To these and other useful ends, my invention consists of parts, combinations of parts, or their equivalents, and mode of operation, as hereinafter described and claimed and shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view through the center of my device as applied to the perferred design of grinders.

Fig. 2 is an end sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

As thus illustrated, the base, or main frame of my grinder is designated in its entirety by reference character A and the rotating part of my invention is designated by reference character B.

Member A comprises a base member 8, and a pedestal 9 having a circular in cross section chamber I0, one end being open as at II and the other end being closed and having a boss I2 with a central aperture I3. A hopper I4 is preferably integrally formed with chamber ID and pedestal 9, as illustrated.

Hopper I 4 intersects chamber I0 as at I5. The other end of base A is provided with a pedestal I6 having an aperture I'I. A shaft I8 is slidably mounted in apertures I3 and I 'I. Shaft I8 is concentric with chamber III and extends therethrough, as illustrated.

I provide a belt pulley I9 Which is rotatably mounted on shaft I8 by means of ball or roller bearings 20--20 which are held in position by means of flanged end members 2I and 22. These bearings are mounted so as to prevent longitudinal movement of the pulley on the shaft, as illustrated.

Members 2I and 22 are provided with annular grooves 23-23 for the reception of suitable packing material.

the reception of packing material thus to inclose the bearings Within oil tight chambers.

I provide an internally threaded annular flange 25 on the outer surface ofmember 22, the

endbeing trued and the outer surface being adapted to support a grinder plate supporting disc 26, the inner part of the disc having lugs which are adapted to contact driving projections on members 22 or 25. The aperture in member 26 is slightly conveXed as at 2'I so the disc will be permitted to rock slightly and thus adjust itself dynamically after the pulley gets up tov speed. l'

An annular grinding plate 28 is secured to member 26. A grinding plate 3| is mounted on the inner face of member Sand vis concentric. with chamber I Il. The face upon which member 3| is secured is made uniform and a housing` 33 is secured to this face, the inner diameterV of the housing being somewhat larger than plate 26.

Member 33 is preferably provided with an opening as at 34 which registers With an opening 35 in base 8 forming an outlet for the ground material. It will be seen that the longitudinal position of shaft I8 will determine the position of plate 28 relative to plate 3| for fine or coarse grinding.

Member 25 is provided with an internal thread 36 for the reception of the threaded end of a tube 31. The tube is provided With a flange 38 which is machine trued on its face so When member 31 is screw threaded into member 25, it will be caused to turn true with pulley I3. Flange 38 projects past the outer diameter of hub 25 so as to hold disc 26 into position.

I provide means (not shown) of which member 40 forms a part whereby shaft I'I may be moved longitudinally for adjusting the space between plates 28 and 3I.

The opening in member 31 is made large enough so it will not contact shaft I8. The outer surface of member 3l is provided with fairly large in diameter spiral threads 4I on its rear end and preferably relatively small in diameter spiral threads 42 on its forward end within the outlet. These spirals are adapted to act as conveying means for the grain.

I provide means for regulating the flow of grain through the grinder or to the grinding plates as follows:

Members 4I terminate a short distance fromk The inner hub members Aof thel pulley are also provided with grooves 24;24 forthe front face 43 of hopper I4. I provide a gate valve 45 which iits against face 43 and is made about the same width as the diameter of chamber I (see Figure 2) the lower central portion being cut out as at 46 to a diameter which is slightly larger than the outside diameter of members 42, as indicated by dotted lines in Figure 2. Gate valve 45 extends upwardly in contact with face 43 terminating at its top in a right angle bend 41.

I provide a slot 48 in hopper I4 and secure a bolt 49 to member 45 which extends loosely through slot 48, the bolt having a nut 50. It will be seen that gate 45 may be moved and held in any desired position. Cut-away portion 46 is positioned relative to bolt 49 whereby when valve 45 is in its lowest position permitted by slot 48, the cut-away portion 46 will extend around members 42 and in close proximity thereto (see dotted lines in Figure 2).

In the design shown, when the valve is in its lowest position, a minimum amount oi grain will be fed into the grinding plates. The ilow of feed is increased as the gate is raised until it reaches the position shown in Figure 2. Clearly the desired change in ow of feed from the hopper to the grinding plates will be available.

Spirals 4l are designed so as to supply the grinding plates with the maximum amount of grain when the valve is in its highest position and when the valve is in its lowest position, a minimum amount of grain will be fed into the grinding plates.

It will be noted that there is no possibility of grain clogging regardless of where the valve is positioned because there will always be agitation under or adjacent the valve to insure a uniform flow of grain to the plates.

It will be seen that I have provided a very simple and eicient means for regulating the flow of grain from the hopper to the grinding plates.

In Figure 1, I have shown the hopper as diverging outwardly from a point as at 5l. The

central portion of the hopper is left straight for contact with valve 45, as illustrated. 'I'he opening left between the diverging parts of the hopper is large enough to provide convenient access to nut 50. I have secured maximum hopper capacity and a convenient seat for the valve.

It will be understood that my invention may be applied to other grinder designs. For example, where the shaft is designed to rotate and to which the operating parts of the device are attached.

Clearly many minor detail changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, as recited in the appended claim.

Having thus shown and described my invention, I claim:

A device of the class described, comprising a hopper having at its bottom a uniform for its length horizontally arranged generally circular in cross section chamber, one end being open forming an outlet, a rotatably mounted member extending concentrically and longitudinally through said chamber, a grinding plate concentrically positioned with said chamber and partially contacting the forward end of said hopper, driving means operatively connected to said member and having another grinder plate mounted thereon and positioned adjacent said rst plate, an auger conveyor mounted on said member and positioned in said chamber, the end protruding through said outlet, a portion of said auger conveyor from said protruding end to a short distance past the inside vertical plane of the hopper being somewhat smaller in diameter than the remainder of the auger, a vertically arranged gate valve positioned on the inside of said hopper adjacent said outlet and being cutaway at its bottom so the valve, when closed, may partially surround said reduced portion of the auger leaving substantially the lower half of said outlet chamber and the reduced portion of the auger open for the passage of the material.

HOWARD M. JOHNSTON. 

